


Solar Flare

by pridcful



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom, Larry Stylinson - Fandom, Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: Adventure, End of the World, First Person, M/M, Solar Flare, hero’s journey, no I’ve never read things are getting closer to the sun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 19:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17209589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pridcful/pseuds/pridcful
Summary: What would you do if you learned your days were limited?





	Solar Flare

Today was like any other day, I guess, aside from the fact it was a little warmer than normal. The sun shone through my window, lighting up the room without the need of electricity. I had an extra fan plugged into the wall of my kitchenette, while I was making lunch for myself and my spoilt dog, Wren. Wren was white and grey, a little on the older dog spectrum, but he was my roommate, and usually ate more than I did. He barked loudly at me, and all I did was laugh in response.  
“Okay, okay, impatient little one,” I said, finally moving his food dish over for him. He beelined for it, as if I never feed him. (I do, more than recommended, even.) I rolled my eyes and stood at the counter with a makeshift lunch-- some overly healthy sandwich with bread that wasn't technically bread. Ever since Harry and I separated, I suppose I made sure I always had something on my mind so my mind didn't drift to him. It seemed dumb, almost, that I thought so much about some stupid guy with a perfect, dimpled smile and emerald eyes more precious than any gem.  
We ended because of his moving far away. I couldn't do distance, he couldn't do distance, and I don't necessarily want to mention how often we fought. We fought about petty things, things that, in retrospect, didn't even matter. The fight about the move, though, was our last, and I never saw him again after that.  
I was pulled from my thoughts by the television suddenly blaring in the next room, then the radio sounding off, my phone buzzing, every single device I had going off at once. Leaving my sandwich behind (and quickly calming a frightened Wren), I tried to turn everything off except the television. A woman’s voice had an eerie quietness to it from the television set, no other noise with her. She wasn't familiar, not to me.  
“This is an emergency alert. This is currently on every television set in every language all over the world,” she began, her accent a clear American one. “We have been professionally informed by a private team of scientists and astronomers, that our sun will give off a solar flare. Not only will it cause Mercury and Mars to explode, but Earth, too. We have been given an exact time, which will show on this channel from this point on,” she spoke, clearly from a script. She blinked, though, a tear falling down her cheek. “We encourage you to make the most of the twelve days you have left,” and like that, the screen went black, and a time in white popped up, counting down.  
Certainly this was a joke, right? Some kind of sick joke. The government or whoever that even was surely can't just tell the whole world ‘oh hey you're going to die in twelve days!’ and expect everyone to believe that, right?!  
My ringtone chimed, and for the first time, I didn't dance to it. “Yeah?” I answered, not even checking the ID.  
“Did you just hear that too?” My mum asked clearly, worry in her voice. Something about her calling me with worry, made it more real.  
“I did…” I whispered, my brow furrowing. It's still not real. Just because it's fooled me, and my mum, doesn't make it real.  
Around twenty calls later from several worried friends, and my own call to the station it was played from, this ‘joke’ was confirmed true. There had been a hired team of scientists long ago to observe everything around the earth, to make sure we were genuinely safe. They spotted asteroids, comets, UFOs in the atmosphere that could possibly fall to earth, and now, well, a solar flare that's about to eradicate humankind.  
There were twelve days from today. I could physically see my time running down, running out. I still couldn't believe it. I didn't want to. I was supposed to have my whole life ahead of me, wasn't I? I woke up today in my bed, Wren at my feet, like every other normal day, it wasn't supposed to be any different. I took a drink, a burn running down my throat just so I could feel something other than numb. It didn't help too much.  
My thoughts drifted to the man I once called mine, the one with curly, chocolate locks and precious green eyes -- oh, they were so calm. I didn't like it, thinking of him. I didn't like remembering how happy we were together and how horrible our last fight was. He ended up moving away for a better life, somewhere away from this place. I took it too personally, and all he really wanted to do was get out there and see what the world had to offer. I had to see him again before it's all over. I still loved him, and our lives couldn't end without one of us trying to fix this mess we created. If anything, I wanted to see him one last time. Clearly, these were the final moments of my life, his life too, and I couldn't end knowing our bridge was burned.  
“I have to,” I murmur, both hands on the countertop. “Wren…” I look over to him, frowning because of my next thought. It wasn't just me dying. Wren was going to die, my mum, my sisters, my friends from college and my coworkers. Everyone I knew and loved, everything was going to be gone. “Wren I need you to do something for me, okay? I know you're only a dog and you don't speak English, but just please understand me,” I started, looking at the dog and capturing his gaze. “I'm taking you with me. I need you to stay close.” I raised my eyebrows to try and finalize the statement, somehow feeling a confirmation out of Wren’s gaze.  
I knew there wasn't time to waste, grabbing an old hiking backpack which hadn't been used in who knows how long. Harry used to force me to go hiking; I never really understood why. All I did was whine and complain until we got to our destination, then whine and complain on the way back. Anyway, I quickly packed up a backpack with as much as I could handle. I included only two changes of clothes, all the cash I had in the house, a knife or two, a multi-purpose army knife...thing, rubbing alcohol, plenty of other first aid material, and one other thing, for Harry.  
My thinking it'd be simple was silly. After calling three airlines in the area, I got the same answer from each. Everyone has quit to spend the final month however they need. There are no flights, there are no busses. And oh so luckily for me, I've not quite had the chance to buy my own car yet. How am I meant to get to London quickly without so much as a bike? I searched every last part of my brain for a way to get to his. I looked to Wren, who just walked to the door and barked quite loudly. I could walk it. It's only a five day trip if I walk as much as I can each day. In a fast glance, I look to the white, trickling time on the television. An hour has already passed. I tune my wristwatch into the channel, able to see the same thing on it as I travel toward the door, taking a look, my last look, over my apartment.  
“Thank you for keeping me safe,” I whisper, a grim smile on my lips as I cross over the threshold of my home. Somewhere I hated leaving, my safe place, my home was a place I only left for work and groceries now, it seemed. I made sure to have my keys, not exactly sure why, but locking the door after Wren had followed me out.  
“Ready?” I said with a nervous breath, my dog looking up at me. “Me neither.”  
Once at the front doors of my apartment complex, I look out to the horizon. A sharp pinch in my nose lets me know I'm nearly crying, and with a tear falling down my cheek, I know there's not really holding back anymore. I slide down the bricks and sit on the shaded concrete, placing my head on my knees. There's absolutely no way I can do this. I'm terrible with directions- a map! I forgot a map! Though being awfully forgetful, I do have a wonderful sixth sense about me. If I'd left my keys, I wouldn't have been able to get back in to get my map with the address.  
Finally on the scout out, I take my first real steps. The heat of the day wasn't so nice anymore, it made me too worried. What if I wasn't properly keeping track of time anymore and suddenly I was no more? I wiped my eyes, placing myself in the map and walking forward. Right now I was going toward the sun, so I was going west, right? This couldn't be so bad, with Wren by my side. He was ahead of me, and very well trained to stay by my side. He became the second part of my two-part family two years ago. Wren was just little at the time, no older than ten months old when we found each other and I adopted him. He was so wiggly and happy, how could I resist that? It's silly, I suppose, to call a dog my best friend, but he's the closest one I have.  
The first twenty minutes of walking wasn't out of the ordinary. I took Wren on walks, I usually walked to the grocery shop, I wandered the park sometimes. However, as my hometown began fading away, I grew wary. The shops turned to graffiti-covered, rundown buildings, and I knew I was away from my safe city. The people looked scarier too, and where I thought most all people seemed scary, these people were rough looking, like they weren't meant to be messed with, or even talked to.  
Wren, though, Wren was the confident one of us and didn't sense any form of danger and just trotted on up.  
“Wren!” I gave out in a whisper. I never kept him on a leash due to his purpose in my life, I didn't think it was right. Right now though, the little brat shouldn't have run off. “Wren, stop.”  
Wren, of course, continued to investigate a tall, blond woman. She was very attractive, seemingly familiar, but I kept my head down when I walked over to retrieve my dog. He owns me, really. As Wren sniffed at her feet, I hurried and pulled at his collar.  
“I'm so sorry, really, he gets excited to see other people sometimes and just goes off without permission, I apologize.” I said to her all while not looking once, trying to pull Wren away, but his excitement was stronger than my own muscles.  
“Oh, no worries,” the sweet voice said back, in an accent I knew. I looked up and in pure surprise, I gasped, then she gasped.  
“Gemma?!” I smiled as she pulled me into a hug, tighter than I'd expected.  
“My goodness, it can't really be you, can it?” Gemma smiled, petting Wren’s head just because he was so excited too.  
“It can,” I grinned, nodding my head and looking up at her. I don't know how their family got so tall, but I felt so short by all of them. Gemma is Harry’s sister. She lives next door to her mother which is why I really can't believe this is her, but there's no mistaking her accent, and not to mention her beauty. We talked a bit more and caught up only about each other, avoiding the elephant in the room.  
“So erm… about Harry?” I questioned very quietly, looking back down to Wren. “I really need to see him, before it all happens, and I don't know where he… is,” I slowly said, not wanting her to think I'm completely using her but knowing she's my only resource.  
“Oh honey, of course, here,” she spoke and took the map from my hands, looking around it for a few long moments and using the side of the building beside her to scribble down locations. When she handed the map back to me, she'd circled a building in downtown London. It was good, I suppose, that I knew exactly which building it was now. She wrote down his exact address on the side, which I inevitably thanked her for. We talked for only a couple minutes more before she noticed the time counting down on my watch, and most likely realized then why I was hurrying out.  
“You better go,” she warned with a grim smile, giving me another hug and patting Wren’s head one more time.  
“Thank you, for this. And if I don't see you again-”  
“Don't.”  
All I could do with that is give her some kind of smile and begin walking away, Wren following tightly behind me. I looked back only once, and she'd already turned back to the group of people she'd been talking with prior. I gave a smile without a trHarry of happiness, walking on and starting to think about where I'd stay for the night, and where I'd get a meal for Wren. I decided to walk until I got tired, never honestly realizing how hilly England was until I've now walked five of them. I groaned and sat at the top of the fifth one, laying back and just letting out a yell into the night sky. Wren came up to me and nuzzled at my head, making sure I was okay. He did this when I had breakdowns, when I freaked out in public, and if I started stuttering too much. I brought up my hand and scratched behind his ear softly.  
“I'm good baby, I'm okay,” I said, sitting up and looking around up the top of the hill, seeing an older bed and breakfast which didn't seem the safest but definitely seemed better than out in the open. I stood, making my way over to it and opening the rickety wooden door. A bell chimed but no one came to the front desk.  
“Hello?” I call out softly, not wanting to interrupt but also wanting to call attention. The old place smelled musty, like they never let it air out after a rain. I turned my nose up at a few of the decorations, jumping back after each dead animal head. “Sick,” I commented aloud, looking down at Wren. “Whoever puts animal heads on their walls sicken me, it's disgusting. You shouldn't be proud of killing such a magnificent creature,” I mindlessly rambled on while walking through the place. When a beam from the top of the building comes collapsing down, I shelter Wren from it without knowing the danger, looking up after and inspecting.  
“Okay, yeah, seems safe and reliable,” I scoff, maneuvering around it and taking a free key, reading the room number and quickly making it there. The electricity seemed fine, the lock was fine, so I locked my dog and I up very tightly in the abandoned room, having also moved a dresser in front of the door. I took a chance and only ate from my pack tonight, giving Wren a good half of jerky and some of my chips. I let him have a water bottle in a makeshift dish, hoping he’d be good for the night. Tomorrow I'd find a shop and buy dog food in cans. I never made him eat those before but they'll be easy to carry.  
“Why don't you come up here?” I pat the bed beside me, seeing Wren jump up and lay directly beside my body, his head on my stomach. “Good boy.”  
We slept like that for the whole night, barely moving at all with the faint sound of a ticking grandfather clock in the front room.  
I woke up early, right as the sun was rising, and I realized, that was something I never learned to love before. The early morning was gentle and soft, trying to wake the sleeping world in the sweetest way possible. I sat up and not only did Wren fall from my side, the dumb dog fell off the bed. I snorted when he stood up and looked at me.  
“You good?” I rolled my eyes and pet his head, standing from the bed and deciding to go search around this place again now that it was daytime. There was a fridge in the common room, and as I peeked in, I was surprised happily with what I found. Proper fruits and various breakfast foods were stocked up inside, and I took enough for the two of us to eat. I warily sat at a table, only then thinking how odd it was that there was fresh fruit and milk in the fridge of an abandoned bed and breakfast. I furrowed my brow, looking around one more time just to see if anyone else was here with me. Wren scouted ahead of me, and I nervously trailed behind, fork in hand. Wait- fork? Well, I meant to grab the knife but it'll do. Anyway, a proper scan later and the only other living thing we found was an equally scared mouse, in which I offered a bit of a strawberry to as a peace offering. However, once opening the door to my room, the bed had been made. I didn't touch it after getting up, Wren certainly couldn't have, and I highly doubt the new-found mouse could've, either. I froze in my tracks, hearing Wren growling deep in his throat off in the front of the facility.  
“Erm…” I spoke involuntarily, taking only a step in the room to grab my pack and bolting back out. I raided the fridge in a hurry, taking anything that could stand to be out of the cold for at least a day without going bad. I patted my thigh to Wren, and we were gone without looking back.  
I wonder what that could've been? Surely there was some kind of rational explanation for that, right? Maybe I really made it and forgot, my memory was quite terrible. That's got to be it. With my mind full of that, I realize we’d been walking for a couple hours, and made ample progress. I trailed across an open field, a deep rumble coming not from the sky, but from the earth. My brow furrowed again and I looked to Wren, feeling an odd shift in the air. I spotted a town, seemingly small, but civilized. I quickened my pace, running into the first building and getting odd stares. If I'm enough to stop the loud laugh of the older blond behind the bar, I must look wild.  
“I'm a traveler,” I explained and got a couple people to look away, but the pub’s owner, the blond, came around to me and moved me out away from the door and into a chair by the fireplace. It was quiet here, only warm chatter of all the other men.  
“Are you well?” The man asked in a deep Irish accent, which caused a smile to pull across my lips.  
“I am,” I nodded to him, “I’m just trying to get to London, by foot, and I'm fairly certain I spent last night in a haunted bed and breakfast.”  
“Oh goodness,” He tried, looking more lost than anything. It was nice he was trying. “Let me get you a drink or two, yeah mate?” He said, hurrying back behind the bar and clearly grabbing a water, and a nicer looking drink with some bright colors.  
“You really haven't got to do this, you know?”  
“It's on the house, don't worry about it,” he chimed, then leaving me to myself. Wren stayed at my feet while I took sips of the cold water, much more interested in the other drink. I didn't want to Rip Van Winkle myself, though, so I politely declined another drink. Suddenly, the lights went out and I couldn't help but laugh at all the drunken groans. The glasses in the pub started shaking, and falling, and Wren stood up instantly to try and keep me calm. It seemed like an earthquake, which would explain the bizarre rumbling from earlier. I didn't know where to go, though, and everyone seemed to have disappeared but me.  
“This way,” shouted the owner, seeing how they all clambered into a stone room. It seemed secure and unbreakable, like they were prepared for natural disasters. Before thinking about it all the way, I pushed Wren and ran in too. It reeked of dirt and beer, dirt from the stones, and beer from all the other men. I hated the smell of it and couldn't help but cough to myself. I squatted down to hold Wren, closing my eyes tightly as the world seemed to crumble around us.  
The earthquake lasted for a full hour, and in a room full of tough looking men, I wasn't afraid to be the one holding my dog for safety. 

 

It began letting up and I was first out of the cramped room, only seconds away from spilling my breakfast onto the floor due to the foul smell. There was only one smell of alcohol I could stand and that was what Harry used to drink. I hated it at first and never let him drink it around me, but it became part of our fun, and just something I got used to. Now, it's one more thing I spent my days missing.  
Wren barked loudly and brought me out of my thoughts. He was good at keeping me from spiraling. I thanked the owner again, sparing a couple pounds for a tip. He was kind enough to worry about a strange passerby, so I hope those pounds could go somewhere before the inevitable. I thanked him deeply before leaving, taking a step outside and noticing now, that it was freezing. Broken buildings and tree debris scattered the roads, but I walked bravely anyway. I needed to. Wren didn't mind the cold, he was made for it. He danced happily, completely unaware of the disaster that happened, but I suppose that's what's so wonderful about dogs. They're so beautifully ignorant that they're able to help you just forget for a moment.  
“I'll rHarry you,” I teased him, patting my thighs to get him riled up, looking out to the horizon and smiling. I took off immediately, Wren smoking me in under five seconds. He took off ahead, and I ran quickly after, feeling my heart racing and the blood pumping through my veins. I'm sure to have gotten weird looks, running after a wolf-looking dog immediately after a disastrous earthquake, but I only had one goal to get to right now.  
While running, I couldn't perfectly scope the entire area and stumbled on a bit of broken bricks, rolling my ankle completely and falling to the harsh ground. I groaned loudly, capable of getting up but wanting to give up. How can I make it to London if I can't even make it over bricks?  
I felt a tentative paw tap my back three times exactly, and I didn't move like I should've. Wren’s next move was to come up to my ear and sniff around. He nudged me a couple times, and at the whimper in his throat, I forced myself to roll onto my side to see Wren, looking at him with a pout.  
“M’okay pup,” I whispered, my voice a little strained. I sat up with a sigh leaving my lips. I looked around where we were, where the sun was, and the time on my watch. Running my fingers through my hair, I started standing up until I felt a dull pain in my ankle, sitting back down involuntarily and deciding to look it over. I pulled up the bottom cuff of my jeans, just to my mid-calf, seeing quite the bruise already forming. I rolled my eyes. Wren moved to lick it immediately, caring for me better than I did, most of the time.  
“Really Wren, I'm alright,” I hummed carefully, standing up much slower this time around. I back-tracked to a shop, trying to get in and remembering that not very many places would be opened now. I searched the outside of the building for the back entrance, using my vast middle school knowledge to pick the lock. (It's the only useful thing I remember from then, really.) It only took a paper clip or two. I looked down to Wren and shrugged, stepping inside. It felt weird, and mostly like I shouldn't be here. The inside was in shambles, the electricity taken with the storm, but I found an ankle brace, luckily. I searched through the dark for another one, only finding a wrist brace and packing it away too. Remembering my dog’s basic needs, I made a point to grab quite a few canned meals for him. I meandered forward to the check out, just sort of placing down a few pounds along with a note explaining what I've taken. I don't know if there will be anyone back in time for this, but I was taught never to steal.  
I placed my swelling, bruising, pained ankle into the brace, tightening it and placing my shoe back, taking a step and nodding. “It'll be okay,” I whisper to my dog, my pace significantly slowing for now.  
We walked for hours after that. It didn't seem to get colder, or warmer, for the whole day, and as it was becoming night, Wren and I were in the middle of nowhere again. It seemed like a ghost town this time, not a very secure place. Wren growled once every five minutes, but this is where we would have to be sleeping tonight. I hunted for a place with a roof, at least, seeing only one building-- if it could be called that -- with something over the top. I turned to step inside when suddenly met with a man, much older than I.  
“What do you think you're doing here?” He said, getting much too close to me. I scooted Wren back with my foot even though he was baring his teeth.  
“Listen, sir, I was just passing through. My dog and I, we needed a place to sleep but I can see this place is taken,” I started and tried to take a couple steps back, only feeling this man’s cold hand grab my wrist tighter than needed as he rambled on about how I don't belong. So many thoughts ran through my head of how hurt I could get, but before I could even finish any of them, Wren had attacked him to the ground with a thunderous growl. I left first, to get to safety, and Wren came trotting out soon after. I realized only then that the bizarre man had cut me across the cheek with a knife or something sharp. I held it in my hand for now, and looked after my dog. He ran, and didn't honestly understand why I wasn't running with him but I hobbled my best beside him as we got out of there.  
When there was a clearing, I kneeled down to hug him tightly. Some people didn't get it, how much animals could be connected to you, but I don't think I could've even made it this far without Wren. Harry had begged me to get a therapy dog for ages, as he knew how much I just struggled to live day to day without feeling overwhelmed. I always told him taking care of another breathing mouth to feed wouldn't really calm me down, but another heart that loved me, did. Harry was always right somehow, about things I needed.  
“Let's use the blanket,” I calmly said, my voice quieter. I took the lead and found a safe patch of grass, laying out the blanket in my bag and laying down. Wren stayed beside me, and I covered us up for what was left of the night.  
The next morning came soon enough and though I'd completely forgotten about the slash on my cheek, my body hadn't. The pain was still there as I tried to murmur a good morning to Wren, the dark, dried blood on my cheek in obvious contrast to my light skin. I groaned after sitting up, pressing the palms of my hands to my eyes and looking around where we were. I checked the time: still making good progress. Then, I looked to Wren who had already been awake. My silly dog had found a new friend to play with, a little bird riding on his back. I laughed at its innocence. The world was ending and my stupid dog and his friend had no clue. I was going to die, the love of my life was going to die, Wren and his brand new friend were going to die and Wren was still smiling and having fun. Before I realized it, I was crying. Slow and silent tears rolled down my cheeks as I watched this scene play out. As I realized my crying, though, the dam seemingly broke and my tears fell faster. I rested my head on my knees and hugged my legs for comfort, crying into them deeply. It was shaking my core, making my heart shake around so much within my ribcage I'm sure it broke into smaller pieces.  
Wren took initiative to nudge my side, trying to sneak his big head under my arm. I smiled and let him do as he wished. I hugged him tightly, pulling my big baby a little closer and offering a smile to his love. His friend, the sparrow, had perched on his tail, curiously watching us and I smiled to her too, holding out my finger.  
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the ghost town I’d run from last night. My head shot in the direction of it, looking to see what caused the noise when all I saw was a wall of angry flames. It wasn't small, like simply a building had caught fire, but it was as if an entire lightning storm had struck the town. My heart rHarryd in pure fear. I stood immediately and furrowed my brow at it, not wanting to stick around and find out exactly what caused the town to burn. Wren jogged beside my pathetic limp, his poor little bird friend gone now. She flew away at the noise, and I hoped she'd be safe until the inevitable.  
I had to pick up my pace, even if it hurt. I couldn't lose my chance because of a brick I didn't see. This day was long, it seemed so much longer than the others and maybe it was because I was in so much pain, but I had to keep pressing myself forward. I was scratched by a barbed-wire fence, jammed a finger or two, but turned out to be otherwise alive by the end of the day. This type of day turned into another, and then another. A full six of the twelve days I have left have been spent on walking, sometimes a dodgy bus ride. Today is the sixth day and my map says I'm within a day’s time of Harry, but my lack of sleep over the course of these days is worrisome. I'd walked into a bar not very welcoming of my kind of person at one point (which is quite sad there's still a division of people), causing each of these beautiful purple bruises to show up all over my body. I'd walked directly into a tree branch, then the trunk of the tree.  
However, today, I'd like to think I’m just a little more awake due to where I should be before sundown. I should be with him. I should be with the boy who built up my life and made me believe that love wasn't just for the types of people you see in tv. I should be with the boy whom I should've been with all this time. I grinned to myself at the thought of it, looking down at Wren, and smiling at him too. He was a bit worn out too, a couple ratty parts in his coat and a cracked paw pad, but nothing horrible. (I'd put some treatment on his paw and a sock to keep it on and clean; he hated it for a day but dealt with it ultimately.)  
Today's sun was brutal, more so than yesterday. My skin looked like a steamed lobster as my sunscreen had ran out on day four, and it's only been barren land since. Along the line, I knew Harry would've been on my tail about how I should've been using cream sunscreen instead of spray, and how I need to apply it every hour in direct sunlight. For me being the anxious one, he sure made sure to follow directions to a T.  
I knew Wren was hot, he was a big dog with a lot of fur and used to staying indoors. I watered him down and offered him shade more than I did to myself, but nothing was seeming to help. His pace was slow, and he staggered more than I did with a limp.  
“Come on Wren, just a little further, yeah? Then we’ll be inside and we can cool off, yeah, yeah.” I tried to encourage him. He looked up at me and whimpered, one of the top noises that have the ability to break my heart.  
I poured the last of my own water bottle over his coat, in hopes of taking down his heat. It was never this hot in England. Despite obviously being from the north, I don't think it's naturally this hot anywhere. With the unforgiving sun cooking my skin even more, I tried to pull Wren with me before the dog stopped.  
“No honey, come on. It's under two hours’ time.” I looked at him and saw pain in his features. He looked tired and hurt and completely worn out. He looked hot, and nearly ready to pass out. I took a step forward and pulled his water from my bag, pouring some into the lid and holding it out for him. For the first time, I had to help him take the drink, guiding his snout toward the water and dipping his mouth into it before he weakly took it.  
“We can do this, right?” I asked. “Right.”  
I pressed a gentle kiss to Wren’s head and stood up better, hissing at the pain from the lasting bruises from the beating. I'll have to have a word with those men in the afterlife. I saw Wren stumble again and knew above all, he was only a dog. He was my companion and had no idea what was going on. I, though being quite weak too, took Wren upon my shoulders and held him there securely. I walked slower than before, but now, at least, I’d have a living dog.  
“You're lucky it's the end of the world, pal, or I'd have you go on a diet.” I gave a quiet snicker, clearing the final hill and seeing London. Big, beautiful London. I took my first steps into the city limits and pit stopped at the first store I could see. It wasn't open to the public, but I saw a person inside. I had to get in, I needed to-- for Wren. I knocked on the glass doors.  
The woman inside looked to me and shook her head. (Mind you, I'm still carrying a massive white and grey husky on my shoulders.)  
I knocked again, this time much more violently. It wasn't a choice for her to let me in or not.  
The woman came to the door and reluctantly opened it. “Can I help you?” she spat.  
Bewildered at her response, I took a breath to keep myself from just shouting. “My dog and I aren't doing well, we've walked here all the way from Cheshire and if we could, could we just have a place to sit in the cool for a minute or two?”  
“We’re closed.”  
“Can't you see we’re not well? I'm not here to shop,” I fought back weakly, walking in past her and setting Wren to the ground, collapsing down beside him.  
The next thing I remember is coming to on a cold tile floor, a big white paw in my sight. I blinked the blurry vision away, looking up at my dog and groaning, seeing his happy face. Good, he's alive. “Wren…” I said to him, getting only a look of his in return.  
“He threw up. I figured he was dehydrated so I gave him some water while you were out, you've been asleep for a couple hours,” a woman's voice said to me and I looked up from the floor.  
“He didn't really like me but he liked the water,” she continued, and I finally forced myself to turn over and sit up, the whole room spinning like a top.  
“Thanks,” I said shortly, placing my hands down on the floor to keep myself together. “I'll clean up after him, and we’ll be on our way.”  
“No worries, someone as sunburned as you coming here with a heavy dog on their shoulders has got quite the journey,” the woman said, her voice less cold than before I'd passed out. “I've put some sunscreen and aloe gel in your bag; you best get going before the sun goes down. It's not too safe here at night anymore, crime and all.”  
“Of course, yeah, thank you, thank you,” I nodded my head gratefully, pulling myself up to a standing position and smiling to her. “Be safe,” I ended with, leaving through the doors like a drunkard, but back on my mission nonetheless.  
My dizziness wore off somewhere around forty-five minutes after leaving that shop, and now I felt it was only reaching midday. Wren was happy as we passed by a fountain near Piccadilly Circus, taking a dip in it and I didn't mind this time. What could the police do? Kill me? Tough, we’re all dying in six days anyway.  
Piccadilly was always busy, always bursting with cabs and people. Today, it was empty. Somehow, this emptiness seemed beautiful. The silence of a place I knew was meant to be loud, but wasn't. I could hear myself take a breath.  
“Come along love, we can't take the underground so we’ve got just a little more to go.”  
Wren looked up at me.  
“What is it? Hm?” I looked around the area and shook my head. Of course he could spot a tennis ball no matter where it was. I rolled my eyes and strolled over with him to go pick it up (some kid must've left it behind in the rush). I tossed the ball a short distance away, and of course somewhere I could see, but he ran off to go get the neon ball. He promptly brought it back to me and I patted his belly fondly.  
“Good boy.”  
I remember the day Harry taught him how to play fetch. I was so worried about ruining Wren’s training with playing around and Harry’s beautiful green’s would just roll at me. He'd tell me dogs needed to play, even if they had jobs to do. I remember the day young little Wren finally brought the ball back to me after Harry had thrown it, even though Harry had been the one out on the field on his knees teaching him. I remember laughing until my cheeks hurt, and seeing my Harry give a defeated sigh and fall to the ground.  
I looked at the apartment building staring me in the face, letting out a nervous breath I wasn't aware I'd been holding in. How could such a ritzy building look so threatening? I looked down at Wren.  
“What if he doesn't even want to see me? What if… he's found somebody else?” I swallowed thickly and bit on my bottom lip. With one more courageous breath, I took a step on the premises and followed Gemma’s directions to which door was his. I felt like I was going to pass out again with each stair I climbed up, then each step I took down his hallway.  
“512.” I whispered. I looked at my wrist which was now missing my watch (I wonder how long it had been gone). I shook my head.  
I let my shaky hand knock on the dark wooden door in front of me. (The time that seemed to pass between here and the opening of the door seemed longer than my entire walk over. I shook heavier than I ever had, I cried, and yet, it was all inside of me. Trapped. What if he wasn't even here? What if he had gone to his mum’s? What if he was laid up in there with his new partner and I was about to make a fool of myself?)  
Quietly, the door clicked. I was faced with the man I hadn't seen in years. The man I'd loved more than the world I lived on. The man I walked nearly all of England in my last days in order to tell him just that. He hadn't changed. His same gorgeous brown curls fell from his head to about his shoulders-- oh how I scolded him when he chopped it all off the first time. His same deep emerald eyes, the ones I found myself lost within, the very same ones that forced me into loving the color green.  
I could feel my heart in my throat, along with all the words I was dying to say. My brow furrowed and my eyes brimmed with tears, yet I was taken in silence.  
“Louis…” Harry spoke, his voice deep and calm, but perhaps just as confused as I was in that moment.  
Without words, I broke from the silent hold I was in and threw my arms around his neck. I held him close to me, this man I loved, and tightened my grip as much as my weakened form could handle. I felt his arms come around my waist, holding me just as close, like every mile of distance that had been between us had been closed. In this bone-crushing hug, I buried my head in his neck and felt my hot tears drop from my eyes, hopefully he wouldn't mind.  
He pulled back first, holding my face in both his large hands and wiping away my tears. He leaned in with his dorky, dimpled grin, our lips meeting in a kiss long overdue.  
“What do I ask first?” He said to me with a laugh of disbelief. “How are you here, I mean, with no planes or busses? Why are you so red? Where did these bruises come from? And where's- Wren!” He bombarded me until Wren realized whose voice that was and got too excited, nearly knocking him over.  
“Come in, in!” He said after giving Wren his well-earned attention. Harry’s hand dropped to my lower back as he guided me into his home, not only letting me snoop enough to pick up that he lives alone, but that he still has one of our pictures hanging up. That's got to mean there was never anybody else, right?  
“Well,” I started with a fond smile, taking a glass of water from his hands and leaning against the back of his couch. “I walked here. I suppose I could've stolen a car but-”  
“You? Steal a car? Hardly. You won't even eat a grape out of the bag at the market without feeling guilty,” he interrupted. He was right.  
“No one asked you,” I laughed fondly, rolling my eyes. “But I didn't, and Wren and I walked. I ran into Gemma, you know? She told me to pick on you.”  
“Did she, now?”  
“Mhm, I'm supposed to come here and give you a hard time, not tell you I'm still madly in love with you and that I wish we had never parted…” I looked down into my glass, feeling my cheeks somehow go even more red than the sunburn cursed me with. That wasn't exactly how I was planning on telling him, but my plans never work out the greatest, anyway.  
“You know,” Harry began, his hand taking one of mine and intertwining our fingers. “There isn't a day that went by where I didn't miss you, us… Wren,” he added at the end with a smile, only to see the dog rolling around on the carpet in front of the aircon.  
“I would say let's take some time to rebuild everything we had,” I whisper, “but we've got around six days?” I gave a soft laugh, moving myself closer to the man I love.  
“Stop saying that, you idiot,” Harry laughed, giving me another kiss. One kiss turned into two and two turned into dozens. We retreated back to his bedroom and called it a night. Granted, I always had Wren to fall asleep next to at night but it had been so long since I'd been able to have a person beside me. That night, we made up for lost time together. All the pining, all the longing was made up for and we fell asleep in a mess of tangled limbs.  
The next morning I woke up and took a shower, mainly to wash my journey off of me and to relieve some of the sunburn pain. When I trailed myself into the kitchen, I spotted my half-naked man cooking breakfast for us.  
“You know, it's unsafe to cook with a shirt off,” I grinned as I walked up behind him to give him a good morning hug.  
“Because I may have oil pop on me?”  
“Because I’m around now,” I teased, giving his shoulder a kiss and walking over to his cabinets. “Do you still keep everything in the extremely tall section of your cabinets? You know, to keep everything out of my reach?”  
“Oh Lou, if you weren't so small this wouldn't be a problem, now would it?” He teased back. I knew he put everything up high on purpose in order to watch me struggle. He did it when we lived together. He knew I was too stubborn to ask for help, so he'd watch me struggle until I'd either climb on the counter or ask him to pick me up.  
“I'm average.”  
“If you're average, I must be a giant.”  
He laughed beautifully, and I turned to kiss him again. I couldn't do that enough over the course of six days. We couldn't show each other enough love in these last days, but I'd try my hardest. I held my hand on his back as he cooked for us, kissing over his biceps with a grin. “I'm in your way, aren't I?”  
“Always.” He laughed, looking down at me for a moment to press a kiss to my forehead and turning to finish up breakfast.  
I knew we were both going to be dead by the end of the week, but this was the nicest breakfast I'd had in a long time. I looked at Harry and bumped his knee with mine under the table, causing a gorgeous grin to play across his lips.  
“Last night was nice, mm?” he spoke up with a smug grin.  
“It was, I've missed you.”  
“Things are going to be okay, yeah? We’re going to be fine.” Harry said with a certainty that always could calm me down. I scooted my chair closer to his, resting my head on his shoulder.  
“I love you.”  
“I love you too, Lou.”  
Our next few days were filled with adventures around the town, breaking petty laws like ‘Don't Climb on the Lions’ at Trafalgar Square, dancing in the biggest fountain and belting obscenities in the middle of the road. We were on top of the world and no one could stop us. 

24:00:00

It was like the time skipped by faster than ever. Now that Harry and I were together and happy again, we only had a day’s time left. It was the end of today’s day, though, and I was cuddled up against him.  
“It's so unfair. We used to talk about adopting babies and having our own family, our own place and that one colorful wall in the room of white,” I murmured lowly, resting my cheek on his chest.  
“You wanted that babe, not me,” he laughed, though there was no humor to be found within it. His hand snaked around my waist and pulled me in, giving me a snug squeeze. “The colored wall thing. I wanted a family with you. I wanted everything with you.”  
“Why did we fight so much?” I asked in a quiet tone, looking to Wren who was sleeping by the unlit fireplace.  
“Because you're stubborn,” Harry chuckled, giving me a kiss on the top of my head. “And I suppose I'm stubborn too, and we really just care about each other,” he offered to me.  
I couldn't fight him, not when it would prove he was right. I let out a soft sigh, nuzzling my nose against his neck. “I regret letting you leave.”  
“I regret leaving.”  
“Oh but baby, you shouldn't. You were following your dreams out here, and I couldn't have been the one to hold you back. It was all my fault that we ever separated and-”  
“Lou,” Harry cut me off, a firm hand down on my thigh and silencing me at once. Maybe we were good at fighting, but we were also good at knowing how to love each other and calm each other down. “Stop.”  
I took a long breath in through my nose and nodded against him, feeling my chin tilt up as he gave me a soft and quick peck on the lips. We fell asleep there on the couch, and only an hour or so later the stronger man woke. I heard him ask if I was awake, and in my nosiness, I kept my eyes shut and didn't respond.  
“Lazy,” he chuckled, strong hands coming underneath my body and pulling me from the couch. I curled myself into him (something I hope I do even when I really am asleep), and let out a soft hum. He carried me to what would be our room for the last night, and we laid up in bed together again. We only slept, holding each other like there wasn't anything else more important.  
The next morning I woke up to the loud sounds outside of the nearest window. I groaned and tapped Harry’s tummy. “Never told me you had annoying neighbors,” I murmured, not seeing my boyfriend move. I rolled my eyes and stood up, meandering toward the curtains and drawing them back to have a look. Nothing. Not a single soul was outside. I blinked a couple more times just to make sure, and when I was absolutely sure, I walked back to the bed and quietly climbed back in behind my boyfriend. I nestled my face between his large shoulder blades, fully prepared to fall back asleep and that's when I heard it.  
It was indescribable. It was like a boom, like an explosion, like a crash, all at once. It was followed by the screaming of car alarms and a fiery red-orange glow filling up our bedroom. I scrambled out of the bed as fast as I could, nearly tripping over the bedsheets and across the carpet as I realized the explosion had shattered the window. I could see Harry stirring in the bed, how had he not woken up at that? I placed my feet down on the ground again, my foot hitting a warm, hard, wet object, causing me to stumble backwards and fall to the floor with a soft thud. I placed my palms on the floor and sat myself up, finally focusing my delirious gaze on what I had stepped on-- A foot. A fucking foot. A foot that was nearly sliced in half, coated with the warm and metallic smell of blood and singed skin. I screamed, hastily crawling back on my hands and feet, just trying to stop my heaving chest and bring it back to normal. I flicked my gaze up to the sight of my boyfriend sitting up on the bed with a disoriented and irritated expression (he was never one to be woken up by an outside source). He glared at me with red-rimmed eyes.  
“What’re you doing?” Harry voiced out huskily, his state of lucidness obviously not kicking in as he hadn't realized our surroundings yet.  
“Get up, Harry, now,” I said with a voice filled with dread, just hoping my boyfriend would pick up on the serious situation. I shakily stood myself up, noting that my own foot had been covered in blood and I tried not to look at it too much.  
Harry stood and ran to the shattered window, gripping at the sill and looking over the utter chaos outside. One or two cars were on fire, along with a few patches of grass and objects on the road. The sky was an angry pink, splashes of red starting to accumulate beyond the horizon. Car alarms were still screeching. Harry stood and stared at the scene with a frozen and terrified expression, only snapping back to reality when he felt my hands tug at his arm. I begged him to tell me what was happening, that it was too early to be the end. Harry turned to look at me, looking over my scared expression, the helplessness that was so evidently displayed in my watery blue eyes. Harry knew then that no matter the costs, he would protect me. I could feel it. Harry took my hand and laced his fingers with mine, forcing an unenthusiastic smile on his lips.  
“It's okay. Everything’s okay,” he stated with uncertainty.  
Within fifteen seconds, Harry had me running with him, down the stairs, and into the kitchen where appliances and other objects were being strewn across the floor as he tossed objects out of the cupboards frantically.  
''Got it!'' Harry exclaimed breathlessly, producing a small radio that he had thrown in there weeks ago. We claimed desperately to the hope that the city's emergency channel would tell them something, something other than just the countdown. I took the radio from his shaking hands and fiddled with the knobs, only being greeted by frequencies of static wherever I went. I cursed out, slamming the useless object onto the kitchen table. I shouted out again, just as another explosion went off in the distance. I looked at Harry right when he looked at me, and I knew that if I said something, we both would crumble. We couldn't afford that right now. It was getting unbearably hotter by the minute. If anyone told us a few hours ago that we would be standing in the kitchen with each other at two in the morning, surrounded by fumes of fire, sweat and human flesh, he'd have laughed himself into a coma.  
''Harry...'' I started, but my love shook his head, cutting me off. He made me swallow the emotion bubbling up inside of me.  
''I have to get you out of here.'' Harry said in a rush, his voice hardly recognizable. He didn't wait for an answer before yanking me out of the kitchen and into the lobby of our home to grab the keys to his car. He had no idea what he was doing. Was it safer in, or out? Harry knew, though, that he couldn't just stay there and do nothing.  
We made our way outside (Wren close behind, of course), careful to step over objects that were only there because of the explosions, the neighborhood starting to fill with a smoky ambiance. A piercing scream filled the air and I whipped my head around, Harry too, seeing his next door neighbor completely engulfed in flames, her arms flailing as she desperately tried to roll on the ground. I began to run forward, until two very strong hands gripped my hips and held me back. I kept fighting. I had to.  
“Louis, no! Don't! There's nothing you can do!” Harry’s voice was hoarse as he watched her fall limply to the ground, his green eyes widening with the realization that things were more drastic than he was willing to admit.  
I finally stopped straining against him, seeing now that Harry was able to guide me toward his car, helping me slip into the passenger’s seat. He ran to the drivers side, stumbling on his way but diving into the seat and slamming the door just as another fiery explosion happened just down the street. Harry was about to start the engine and floor it out of there before he caught a glimpse of me. Frozen. I stared blankly at the dashboard, unable to move, or think, for that matter. We just watched a woman die.  
I knew we didn't really have forever, but yesterday we were reminiscing on having a family together. Just yesterday we were talking about having kids. It was cruel, I suppose, cruel to put images in our heads that we knew could never be.

We were laying beside each other, foreheads rested against one another’s  
“I really think an engagement around Christmas would be amazing,” Harry hummed, giving me a simple kiss on the nose and looking into my deep blue eyes. He smiled warmly, his dimples flaring as he watched me act flabbergasted at the thought.  
“What if I want to propose first, hm? Early.” I shot back with a scrunch of my nose. “Move in together, a big place. Adopt. A little girl. Neither of us are that good with girls but oh how much we’ll love her… the little princess. We could take turns staying at home, have dinner ready for each other.” I added quietly, our noses teasingly brushing together.  
“I do. I do want to marry you. Soon.” Harry answered, nodding with my notion to the future we seemed to forget we couldn't have. That's when we had kissed. Our last kiss before falling asleep with our limbs intertwined. 

The memory dissipated as I felt Harry’s larger hand over my smaller one, and with a pang I remembered we were on the brink of doom in his car. Harry’s hand fell away from the steering wheel and came up to my cheek, his thumb wiping across my cheekbone to wipe away the tears that had fallen. My eyes were glistening with tears, and I saw that his were too. I never knew how he was so strong. This couldn't really be it. He and I were meant to be together at sixty. We were supposed to have a hallway framed with pictures of our grandchildren. We were supposed to have led a life of fulfillment and joy together. Neither of us spoke for a while as a few stray tears glistened from the skin on our cheeks. Harry turned to face me, the best he could inside of his car. His hands were shaking as he slipped one of his rings of his off of his own finger, a ring I knew was meant to be our engagement ring so many years ago. “Lou, I knew from the very moment that I met you, that I would die loving you, I just didn't think it'd come so soon. But I knew you'd be my last, and most important, love. I should be scared right now. But I'm not, baby. Because I know I'm about to die at the happiest that I could've been. I love you. And I need you to be Louis Styles before I go..'' He slowly spoke, his voice only wavering in a few places, now openly allowing a few more tears to roll down his cheeks. I'd only seen Harry cry once or twice before in our time together, I suppose moments before we die is a pretty good exception.  
I wanted to argue, though. I wanted to tell him we’d come out of this okay, that we’d get our puppies and our babies. We’d fight about what television channel to watch and who was supposed to pick up more milk. But I realized then, that this is a moment I had to savor while I still had it. Our last moment. Fighting was useless. I quietly held forward my hand, letting my boyfriend, my love, slip the ring onto my finger. Our fingers intertwined after he’d done it.  
''I'm really sorry that I spilled wine all over your shirt at Ben and Nora's party,” Harry blurted out with a watery laugh. ''And, I- thank you for-for sewing my Burberry's buttons back for me, I never got to… tell you.'' Harry ducked his head down, his voice completely cracking.  
A sob fell from my lips, and I only clutched his hand as tight as I could. We sat there like that, heads together, the road ablaze and the world around us burning up. I was thinking about all of our key moments. The paint brawl we had as soon as we moved in together at my place; the time Wren threw up over the both of us but we couldn't be mad at him because Harry was the one who fed him too many treats; our late night rendezvous for sundaes and horrible TV movies. I knew Harry was thinking about them too. Wren sat on the opposite side of me, seeming to understand the concept of what was going on. I held one arm around him, my other still holding the love of my life. We took a moment to have a slow, loving kiss, the last one we would ever have on this earth. We fit like puzzle pieces, we always had. Harry raised his head first, then I did, and with our hands held together tightly we both nodded.  
Harry pulled out of the driveway and slowly pulled onto the road, heading down the street. His thumb ran over the ring on my left finger repeatedly. We drove away from the life we’d built up all those years together, and rekindled in just a matter of a few days. The apartment was only a distant object in the rear view mirror now. We were driving straight into the sunrise, the angry, giant, blazing red sun that had cascaded itself all along the horizon. Everything was fiery, and broken, as they drove down the highway. I could see our past selves, as blinded by tears as I was. I could see Harry and I sitting by the steel fence that barricaded the road from the rocky ocean shores, laughing as we watched the water crash, and the spot by the road where my love had tripped over a bottle when we had gone jogging, then spent an hour mad at me because I made him do it. 

We may not have had a long life together, but we loved each other so much that it felt like more than a lifetime, and if it had to end, I was grateful that it ended this way, with our memories intact and being side by side. If the sun swallowed the entire earth whole, it didn't matter, we would find each other in the afterlife, as soulmates do, and we would live happily ever after. If you love someone. Tell them every day. Moments are fleeting, and they should know that every single day.

 

00:03:00

''I love you, Harry.”

00:02:00

“I love you too, Lou.”

00:01:00

“Forever,” was the last word we simultaneously whispered as the blinding white light of destruction rolled upon the horizon.


End file.
